All In Da Ohana

So much controversy regarding this group. One would think they are a threat to Hawaiian culture given the slant of media coverage. But what's the deal here?

I may be a bad example of a Hawaiian but even I can see the problem. The issue at its basic tenets is one of cultural integrity. It's an all too familiar scenario where indigenous peoples obtain sovereign recognition, secure state, federal, and/or international protection, but then are left to their own devices on the practical matter of cultural practice.

Practice is the key to preserving tradition yet it is impossible to perform when access to culture is denied. This is exactly the case here with the remains and burial items. The museums and others have held on to them for far too long and should have thought to return or reinter them after their studies were completed. I am, of course, assuming that the digs were for study and teaching of Hawaiian culture and not just to display an extinct race of islanders.

Maybe therein lies the problem. Early assumptions that Hawaiians would surrender and forget their culture in return for American citizenship were an underestimation of a determined people. It worsened in the 70s with the renaissance bringing Hawaiiana into the mainstream consciousness. There would be no end or reduction of the race but an ever expanding, ever learning base from which the culture could prosper.

Hui Malama is a part of that renaissance created because of the continued injustice of the land and people. Good job for them in reinterring the remains, taking all the heat for it, and not giving a shit about it.